Former Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips trashed his party’s attempts to stop billionaire and Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk from auditing government spending.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Phillips admitted that Democrats are being “steamrolled” by the X owner who has begun conducting internal investigations into the spending of various government agencies, while liberal lawmakers have been loudly protesting on the sidelines. Phillips urged the party to change their strategy.
“And all I‘m saying is that sometimes it’s better to join [DOGE, Trump] and actually play a role in how the strategy works, rather than so pathetically, frankly, try to combat something that clearly is a steamroller,” the former Minnesota lawmaker told CNN’s Laura Coates.
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Former Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips urged fellow Democratic figures to work with DOGE rather than lament about it.
Democratic lawmakers have been opposing Musk’s DOGE since the agency was established by President Donald Trump via executive order last month to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
DOGE has begun conducting audits of various government agencies, focusing on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, looking to target fraudulent and wasteful spending.
Meanwhile, Democratic figures have been protesting DOGE’s actions on Capitol Hill all week, with many of them accusing Musk of operating in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Phillips admitted that his party’s line of attack against Musk is not working, as he’s ably using his platform, X, to curry support for DOGE among the American public despite the outcry.
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Elon Musk is leading the Department of Government Efficiency. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“Unfortunately, Democrats are only focused on one thing right now, Mr. Musk. The fact of the matter, he‘s quite popular. He has the largest platform in human history, which is, of course, Twitter/X, and I think we’re missing the boat as Democrats,” he said.
Phillips recommended that his party try working with DOGE to shape its policy rather than just lamenting about it. That way they can also keep Musk and Trump in check.
“And Democrats are being steamrolled. And I‘m deeply concerned about that. Yes, Musk is not elected. He has no accountability other than Donald Trump, and that‘s a frightening combination,” he said.
“And I don‘t want to cross my fingers,” the former congressman added. “I think Democrats should join the club and then have more credibility to actually raise the alarm about constitutional issues. Right now, it‘s the boy who cried wolf.”
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